Exeter Bridge is a bridge in the centre of Derby spanning the River Derwent 200 metres south of the more modern Cathedral Green Footbridge.

Exeter Bridge - Derby
Looking toward the Market Place
Coordinates52°55′26″N 1°28′26″W / 52.9238°N 1.4738°W / 52.9238; -1.4738
CarriesTraffic
CrossesRiver Derwent
LocaleDerbyshire
Maintained byDerby City Council
Characteristics
DesignRoad bridge
Total length50 metres
Width15 metres
Height10 metres
History
DesignerCharles Herbert Aslin
Construction startAugust 1927
Opened20 March 1929
Statistics
Daily traffic3,000 (2009 estimates)
TollFree
Location
Map

History

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Derby's original Exeter Bridge started life as a timber footbridge built by the Binghams of Exeter House, in order to access their gardens on the other side of the River Derwent.[1] Exeter House was eventually demolished because of cost and to allow improvements to the bridge to be made.[2]

The old Exeter Bridge was demolished in 1929 and replaced by a single-span concrete bridge designed by Charles Herbert Aslin of the City Architect's Department, who was also responsible for Derby's now demolished Art Deco-style bus station. During construction a test was carried out to see if it would hold the weight of the traffic. Civil engineers ran a procession of traction engines, steam rollers and heavy lorries across the bridge to check it could take the strain. It was officially opened by the minister of transport, Herbert Morrison on 13 March 1931.

Exeter Bridge features bas relief sculptures of:[3]

The sculptures were cast in Cheltenham by H.H. Martyn & Co.[5]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "First Exeter Bridge".
  2. ^ "Exeter House Panelling". Derby.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 27 September 2011. Retrieved 9 October 2011.
  3. ^ "Four famous Derbeians". Archived from the original on 30 November 2009. Retrieved 27 June 2009.
  4. ^ "Letter 5145 — Darwin, C. R. to Wallace, A. R., 5 July (1866)". Darwin Correspondence Project. Retrieved 12 January 2010.
     Maurice E. Stucke. "Better Competition Advocacy" (PDF). Retrieved 29 August 2007. Herbert Spencer in his Principles of Biology of 1864, vol. 1, p. 444, wrote "This survival of the fittest, which I have here sought to express in mechanical terms, is that which Mr. Darwin has called 'natural selection', or the preservation of favoured races in the struggle for life."
  5. ^ Whitaker, John (1968). The Best: History of H.H.Martyn and Co., Carvers in Wood, Stone and Marble, Casters in Bronze, Founders of Gloster Aircraft Ltd. Promenade Publications. p. 137. ISBN 0952938219.